Picasso's two Guitar constructions–one in cardboard, one in sheet metal–bracket a brief but intense period of experimentation in the artist's long career. It is this moment in his work, and the place of these two modest yet revolutionary objects within it, that Picasso: Guitars 1912–1914 explores.

Techniques & Materials

On October 9, 1912, Picasso wrote to fellow artist and friend Georges Braque, reporting, "I am using your latest papery and powdery procedures. I am in the process of imagining a guitar and I am using a bit of dust against our horrible canvas." His words announce a unique preoccupation with the guitar as a subject and mark the introduction of unconventional techniques and materials into his artistic practice.